Life Under a Dictator
Curriculum Outcome 5.1.3 – Analyze and be
able to explain the effects of totalitarian
governance on social, political and economic
life.
 Name
some of the characteristics of
totalitarian government.
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You have been given a copy of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
You and your group will read through these
rights and freedoms, and select three (limit one
selection per bold heading (i.e. “Legal Rights” or
“Fundamental Freedoms”)

Imagine our society – your life – without these
three rights. How would things be different?

Be prepared to share your response with the
class.
 “Anti-individualistic, the
Fascist conception
of life stresses the importance of the State,
and accepts the individual only in so far as
his interests coincide with those of the
State…” – Benito Mussolini
The fasces: a symbol of strength
achieved through unity;
namesake of Fascism, a form of
Totalitarianism.
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The Fascist Decalogue
(i)
1. Know that the Fascist and in particular the soldier, must not believe in perpetual peace.
2. Days of imprisonment are always deserved.
3. The nation serves even as a sentinel over a can of petrol.
4. A companion must be a brother, first, because he lives with you, and secondly because he thinks like
you.
5. The rifle and the cartridge belt, and the rest, are confided to you not to rust in leisure, but to be
preserved in war.
6. Do not ever say "The Government will pay . . . " because it is you who pay; and the Government is that
which you willed to have, and for which you put on a uniform.
7. Discipline is the soul of armies; without it there are no soldiers, only confusion and defeat.
8. Mussolini is always right.
9. For a volunteer there are no extenuating circumstances when he is disobedient.
10. One thing must be dear to you above all: the life of the Duce.
(1934)
(ii)
1. Remember that those who fell for the revolution and for the empire march at the head of your columns.
2. Your comrade is your brother. He lives with you, thinks with you, and is at your side in the battle.
3. Service to Italy can be rendered at all times, in all places, and by every means. It can be paid with toil
and also with blood.
4. The enemy of Fascism is your enemy. Give him no quarter.
5. Discipline is the sunshine of armies. It prepares and illuminates the victory.
6. He who advances to the attack with decision has victory already in his grasp.
7. Conscious and complete obedience is the virtue of the Legionary.
8. There do not exist things important and things unimportant. There is only duty.
9. The Fascist revolution has depended in the past and still depends on the bayonets of its Legionaries.
10. Mussolini is always right.
(1938)
Problems
• The USSR was not
industrialized and had a
very weak military
• The Government was
unstable after Lenin’s
death.
• The economy was
improving, but many
still suffered from
famine.
After a terrible civil war and the death of Vladimir
Lenin, Joseph Stalin took power in the Soviet Union.
He immediately started putting his opponents to
death and began a ruthless program to build up
industry in the USSR, killing anyone who stood in his
way!
Examples of Totalitarian Rule
Major Reforms
• Collectivization of
farms
• Five year plans to
industrialize USSR
• Total Command
Economy - government
control all means of
production
• Built up the military
• Single party
dictatorship
(Communist Party)
• Ruled through fear and
terror (Reign of Terror)
• Used censorship and
propaganda - schools,
newspapers, government
• Secret police
Mussolini and his fascist followers, known as the
“Blackshirts” marched on Rome and seized power
in Italy in 1922. Mussolini became Il Duce (“The
Leader”) and set up an efficient but brutal rule
over Italy!
Problems
Major Reforms
• Economic and
political problems
(Debt, Unemployment,
corruption).
• Peasants lost land and
resentment after WWI
• Fear of communist
uprising - Clear division
between rich and poor
• Developed Fascist
party - Extreme sense of
nationalism
• Repaired and built up
the infrastructure (roads,
bridges, trains)
• Wanted to return Italy
to the glory of the
Roman Empire
Examples of Totalitarian
Rule
• No criticism of state
allowed!
• “Everything is the state”
Forced Italian men to join
military, women should
have babies
• Used censorship and
propaganda - schools,
newspapers, government
Secret police, the OVRA
In 1933 Adolf Hitler promised Germans that he
would tear up the Treaty of Versailles. His Nazi
Party won the elections and he was appointed
Chancellor of Germany. He quickly gathered all
power in his own hands and began arresting
communists, trade unionists and Jews.
Problems
• Damage from WWI
and Great Depression
caused economy to
suffer
• Hyperinflation,
unemployment, massive
debt due to Treaty of
Versailles
• Fear of communist
revolution
Major Reforms
• Developed Nazi party Extreme sense of
nationalism
• Ignored Treaty of
Versailles and rebuilt
military
• Provided security and
leadership to Germans
• Targeted scapegoats Jews, French, Communists
Examples of Totalitarian Rule
• Preached service to the state!
• Developed idea of Aryans,
master race, who needed to be
purified and regain land that was
rightfully theirs.
• Campaign against Jews
• Used censorship and
propaganda - schools,
newspapers, government
•Secret police, the Gestapo
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You have examples of policies, accomplishments, and
terrors inflicted by a given totalitarian dictator: Stalin or
Mussolini.
You and your group will imagine living under the rule of this
dictator, and experiencing his actions and decisions.
Discuss each example with your group, and then divide
them into two categories:
1. Reasons why we support his leadership, and follow him out of despair
and into prosperity.
2. Reasons why we resent him, and long to be freed from his tyranny.
Reasons to support him
Reasons to dislike him
Example 1
Example 2
Example 4
Example3
…
Example 5
…
…
Rank the examples in order of SIGNIFICANCE (i.e.
“The reason we hate Hitler’s leadership most is…)
Present your selections.
Reasons to support him
Reasons to dislike him
Present your selections.
Reasons to support him
Reasons to dislike him
 On
a fresh sheet of paper, answer these
questions in about two sentences each.
THESE WILL BE COLLECTED AND
MARKED
1. What aspects of your life would change
if you lived under a Totalitarian dictator?
2. What conditions would drive you to give
up your individual rights and follow
such a leader?